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Ryan Wilson, 22, died after being Tasered by Lafayette police. (file handout)

The U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court's decision to throw out a lawsuit against the city of Lafayette and its police filed by the parents of a 22-year-old man who died after being shot with a Taser as he ran from officers.

In the appeal, Ryan Wilson's parents, Wendy and Jack Wilson, claimed that Lafayette Police Officer John Harris used excessive force when he tased their son in 2006.

The three-justice panel last week upheld U.S. District Court Judge Philip A. Brimmer's decision that Harris had qualified immunity, which protects government officials doing their jobs from civil liability for damages.

"We sympathize with the Wilsons over their terrible loss. But the Supreme Court has directed the lower federal courts to apply qualified immunity broadly to protect .... all officers except 'the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law,'" Circuit Judge Neil M. Gorsuch wrote in affirming the district court decision.

Michael Thompson, a lawyer for Wendy Wilson, said Wednesday that he and other plaintiff's attorneys will ask the full 18-member court to rehear the case.

Two of the judges suggested that Harris' actions violated Wilson's constitutional rights, he said, and their opinions could persuade the court to rehear the case en banc. The plaintiffs have until Wednesday to file for a rehearing.

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Asking a federal appeals court to rehear a case is often a step taken by lawyers preparing to file an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, said Karen Steinhauser, a criminal defense lawyer and adjunct professor at the University of Denver's Sturm College of Law.

"What you are asking the court to do in terms of rehearing is basically to say they were wrong the first time. It is very rare that a petition for rehearing is granted," Steinhauser said

The Wilsons' appeal concentrated on only one claim in their original lawsuit, arguing that Harris violated their son's constitutional rights by using excessive force.

Chief Judge Mary Beck Briscoe, one of the appellate court judges who ruled on the case, agreed with Brimmer's dismissal of a wrongful death claim. But she disagreed in part with the decision, calling the Taser shot to the head an unconstitutional use of excessive force.

"A reasonable officer would know that aiming or recklessly tasing Ryan Wilson in the head under the circumstances presented was unconstitutional," she wrote.

And Briscoe said Brimmer erred by granting Harris qualified immunity.

The third member of the panel, Judge Scott Matheson pointed to a decision in the case of a man repeatedly tased "establishing a constitutional violation in this case."

But he also cited a ruling that says an officer has qualified immunity if he has a mistaken "understanding as to whether a particular amount of force is legal."

The fact that two of three judges suggested Harris' actions could be unconstitutional is a warning to other officers who might take similar actions, Thompson said. It also bolsters the Wilsons' request for a rehearing, he said.

Wilson ran when officers approached him in a field where marijuana was growing. As he fled, he reached for his right pocket.

Harris ordered him to stop and then "repeatedly told Mr. Wilson to get his hand away from his pocket," according to the decision.

When Wilson didn't stop, Harris fired and one of the Taser's two probes struck in his head or neck.

Wilson's death was caused by a combination of extreme exertion, a pre-existing heart condition, and the Taser jolt.

The Wilsons reached an out-of-court settlement with the stun-gun manufacturer, Taser International, last year. The terms of the settlement have not been disclosed.

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